The phone in my hand felt like it was pulsing, a live wire itching to burn through my skin. The message glowed on the cheap little screen like a brand on my flesh: It’s time. Your three years are up. Three years. Three years of swallowing every insult with a weak smile. Three years of letting the Hales treat me like a stain they couldn’t scrub out. Three years of standing in the corner at their parties, dressed in a suit that was deliberately two seasons out of style, letting Vanessa introduce me as if I were some distant cousin instead of her husband. I had played the role to perfection. Adrian Hale: pathetic, spineless, disposable. A perfect mask. But masks are meant to come off. I slipped the phone into my pocket and walked out of the Imperial Hotel lobby. The bellhop was waiting there, the same one who’d smirked earlier when I fumbled a tip. He held the door now, expecting to enjoy one last sneer at my expense. He studied my face, but something made him pause. Not

The divorce papers sat on my desk like a nuclear device that had just detonated. Vanessa Hale stood there, silent, her face pale, her whole body trembling with fury she didn’t want me to see. Richard Hale broke first.Richard: “You… you planned this.” His voice cracked, disbelief laced with rage. “You destroyed us deliberately.”Me: “I exploited your arrogance. That’s all. You gave me the keys, I opened the vault. The Hale family invited me into the heart of their empire, and I simply listened.”Richard stumbled into a chair, covering his face with his hands. Vanessa didn’t flinch. Her eyes cut through me, hate blazing.Vanessa: “You think this is the end? You think you’ll just take everything and walk away clean? No. I’ll fight you. I’ll expose you. The board, the media, they’ll see you for the monster you are.”Me: laughing, sharp and hollow “Tell them. Go ahead. Shout it from the rooftops. Tell the world that the Hales, once untouchable, lost everything to the man they called worth

The boardroom air crackled like a storm waiting to break. I walked in with Elena at my side, my chest steady, my eyes fixed on Mark Corbin—the smug CEO of Apex Innovations. He sat across the long mahogany table, his smile a weapon he thought could cut me down. He hadn’t recognized me. Not yet.“Mr. Cole,” he said smoothly, fingers steepled. “Unconventional, isn’t it? An emergency meeting over a little… intellectual property matter?”I leaned back, let my smile linger. “There’s nothing unconventional about protecting my assets, Mr. Corbin. And Elena Ward’s intellectual property is mine to protect.”Elena sat stiffly beside me. Her jaw locked, fists hidden in her lap. I could feel her anger radiating. Apex had tried to gut her firm, then swipe her blueprints—the heart of the Phoenix project.Mark chuckled. “We’ve made an official offer. Ward Architecture should be flattered. A generous buyout. Step aside, Cole. This is a table for real players, not… newcomers.”“Elena’s firm is not for

“Elena, look.” I shoved the card into her palm. “Tell me you’re seeing what I’m seeing.” She didn’t say anything for a beat. She simply stared, blinked, and then, with that light that always made me trust her instincts, she said, “That crest… Beaumont.” “Beaumont?” My mouth tasted like iron. “Beaumont—our old enemies.” “Elena,” I said, too loud, and she slapped a hand over my mouth. Her eyes snapped to mine. “What do you mean—‘our’ enemies? Say it.” “The Beaumonts.” Her voice dropped. “Disavowed, banished. Erased. Everyone thinks they’re gone.” “Not everyone.” I let my fingers tighten around the card until the edges whispered. “They’re here.” “Are you serious?” she asked, and suddenly the chandeliers were too bright and the silence too loud. “Here—now?” “Yes.” I didn’t explain. I took her hand—because the world still made sense when she was with me—and steered her toward the exit. “Adrian, where are we going?” she asked as we moved, heels clicking on the marble. “Out,” I said.

The gunshot cracked like thunder in the still air. The bullet slammed into the plaster inches from my head, exploding dust across my cheek. My ears rang. My breath froze in my chest. “Relax, Adrian.” Marcus’s voice was cool, precise. He lowered the gun, smoke still curling from the barrel. “That was a warning. I want the core, not bodies.” My heart hammered like a drumline inside my ribs. “You’ll never get it.” My voice came out flat, stripped of fear. Marcus’s mouth tilted into a small, smug smile. “You think you have a choice. I already took a copy. But honor matters. Family matters. The original is mine.” “Honor?” I spat. “You wouldn’t know honor if it strangled you.” He stepped closer, gun glinting in his hand. “Give it to me, and I walk out. No more blood.” I slipped my hand into my pocket, my fingers curling around cold metal. The flashbang. A relic I’d carried for years. My ace in the dark. “Elena,” I whispered, low, barely moving my lips. Her head jerked toward me,